ABEL XAVIER is facing a desperate struggle to clear his name and resume his Middlesbrough career after Uefa revealed that the defender’s B sample had tested positive for a performanceenhancing drug. Xavier, 32, was suspended from all competition last month after a routine urine test was found to contain traces of a banned substance, which has been confirmed as an anabolic steroid.

The former Portugal defender, who has insisted that there is a “reasonable and entirely harmless explanation” for the controversy, will be required to appear before a disciplinary committee at Uefa’s headquarters in Switzerland a week on Thursday. Xavier has claimed he “never” intended to dope himself, but that is not regarded as an adequate defence.

Xavier was tested at random by drug collection officers after Middlesbrough’s goalless draw away to Xanthi, the Greek side, in the Uefa Cup. His club were informed of the positive result on October 15 and he was omitted from their home match against Portsmouth the next day. It is understood that he told Middlesbrough that he had been taking a legal food supplement imported from the United States.

While his employers have signalled their intention to support the player, they would be within their rights to terminate his one-season contract with immediate effect were he to be found guilty of taking Dianabol, which is the trade name for methandrostenolone. While the football authorities reserve the right to treat cases individually, a year’s suspension could be expected.

“The hearing will take place on November 17 and the player will attend,” a spokesperson for Uefa, the European game’s governing body, said. “We can confirm that the B sample has confirmed the original findings and that Xavier has been charged with taking a banned substance known as Dianabol. He will have a personal hearing.” Previously, no player from the Premiership has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Dianabol was developed in the 1950s by John Ziegler and while it was often administered to treat burns and the elderly, it was also popular with bodybuilders and weightlifters. Ziegler’s intention was to create a substance that could build strength like testosterone, the male sex hormone, without significant disadvantages, although the side-effects suffered by abusers include heart problems and infertility.

Xavier’s case has been complicated by his failure — according to sources at the Riverside Stadium — to inform Middlesbrough that he was taking any form of supplement before his positive test. Under anti-doping regulations, a footballer is personally responsible for whatever is found in samples of his urine. Xavier has been undergoing a “number of tests” of “body fluids and tissues” in a bid to prove his innocence.

Signed at the end of August as a short-term replacement for Michael Reiziger, Xavier has made only six appearances for Middlesbrough since leaving AS Roma. During a muchtravelled career, he has also played for Galatasaray, Liverpool, Everton, PSV Eindhoven, Real Oviedo, Bari, Benfica, Estrela Amadora and won 20 caps for Portugal.

He earns in the region of £25,000 a week on Teesside and, at his age, Xavier would not find it straightforward to return to the professional game after any lengthy ban. It would also represent a significant blow to Middlesbrough, for whom Tony McMahon, their first-choice right back, is absent until late December with a dislocated shoulder.

Steve McClaren, the manager, has given his support to Xavier. “He is protesting his innocence vehemently at the moment,” he said recently. “He is elsewhere in Europe and doesn’t want to reveal where he is for obvious reasons.”